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Parking in York City: Boots on cars cause some complaints

A new company hired to patrol some downtown parking lots isn't welcomed by everyone.

By LAUREN BOYER Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated:
09/04/2013 08:40:15 AM EDT

A boot specialist from PLS, Parking Lot Services, demonstrates how the company boots cars in York last week. The company has been hired by several York area businesses. The practice of booting isn't embraced by everyone, though. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - KATE PENN)

York, PA -

Casi Babinchak watched as downtown motorists crumpled up Central Market-issued parking tickets -- sometimes intentionally, she said, right in her line of sight.

As the chief operations officer for the downtown York mainstay, she felt helpless in fixing a situation that far preceded her more than two-year tenure.

The market loses money if people don't pay to park.

And it was well known, Babinchak said, that those yellow slips of paper -- an attempt to deter non-paying customers from parking in Central Market's garage and metered spaces in Cherry Lane -- held no legal weight.

She called the tow truck on chronic problem parkers, but she didn't feel good about it.

Vinyl stickers like this one are placed on a vehicle when a boot is put on, explaining why the boot was placed and how to have it removed by PLS in York. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - KATE PENN)

"It wasn't our first choice," she said. "It wasn't friendly."

And that's how -- for the market, at least -- the "boot" was born.

The boot, common in larger cities, is a bright yellow clamp with rubberized grips that grasps your tire, immobilizing your vehicle. It can be removed for a $75 fee.

It comes to York by way of entrepreneur Brandon Marquette, a 2000 William Penn High School graduate and owner of Parking Lot Services, PLS for short.

But not everyone is embracing the boot. Some say the practice is just as bad as towing, a burden to strengthening the downtown economy.

When the practice first started, the White Rose Bar & Grill apologized for the inconvenience to some customers by giving $75 gift cards to make their next experience more enjoyable.

And a city councilman says the subject of booting will be kicked around at a committee meeting in September.

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Marquette, 31, is a businessman.

He and his wife Shannon own five Lots of Love Early Learning Centers, Gorilla Marketing and Media, and United Steak Company, a wholesale meat distributor.

He saw opportunity in York City Council's enaction of a December 2011 ordinance that banned predatory towing -- the act of hauling off a vehicle without permission of a parking lot owner to remove that specific car.

Boots like this one are used by PLS in York on vehicles that violate parking ordinances. (DAILY RECORD/SUNDAY NEWS - KATE PENN)

It's the same law that Tobin Johnston credited with running his longtime city tow truck enterprise, Intown Motors, out of business.

Marquette has a list of reasons why, when given the choice, you'd rather be booted than towed.

It's cheaper, he said.

When it happens, your car and the items contained therein aren't gone, hauled off to an undisclosed location.

"We are human," Marquette said. "If we have made mistakes by booting individuals that were authorized to be there, we can take it off without your car being moved and your personal belongings being tampered with."

To have the boot removed, you call a number listed on a vinyl static cling sticker placed on your window.

PLS, he said, services lots between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays and can arrive at booted vehicles in under 10 minutes.

Owners of booted cars must pay within 24 hours or risk being towed, Marquette said.

PLS employs three people that visit lots on a 45-minute route.

"This is not an off-the-cuff decision by most of these business owners," said Amanda Devers, chief operating officer of White Rose Property Management and Realty, another of Marquette's companies. "They have explored a lot of their options. Whether it's a gate, which is extremely expensive, the metering process or a kiosk. That's where Brandon found the void and said, 'What can we do?'"

PLS does not get paid by the lot owners.

Similarly, those downtown businesses do not bank any portion of the $75 booting fee.

And neither does the city, said York City Councilman Henry Nixon.

"This needs to be clear," he said. "A lot of folks think the city is booting and they're making all of this money. The city is not enjoying any kinds of profits from this at all."

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After Intown closed, PLS picked up many of the tower's downtown territories, including the 104 spaces owned by CGA Law Firm.

"It was the only way we could police the lot and satisfy our tenants' demands for parking," said CGA attorney Larry Young, who said the firm considered gating the lot.

Young sits on a decision-making body for the parking area and building at 135 N. George St., which houses other offices in addition to CGA.

He described the one-month period between Intown closing and the law firm's decision to work with PLS as "Dodge City."

"During that month, we had unimaginable parking problems," he added. "There was no enforcement. ... I would watch people park in our lot and walk across the street to go to a restaurant or the Valencia."

Central Market posted signs about PLS at the beginning of August -- a week before enforcement began.

"We don't want to send any message that we're prowling," Babinchak said. "There certainly shouldn't be any feeling that there's someone sitting and waiting for you to walk away from your car. PLS is not interested in seeming unfriendly any more than we are."

But Marquette isn't naive.

"I know people are going to have their opinions and make me out to be the bad guy," he said, "since Toby isn't around anymore."

When vehicles get booted, it sometimes results in a call to the police.

York City Police Chief Wes Kahley said officers have been dispatched to private lots for complaints from booted vehicle owners.

"A lot of city resources are being tied up in mediating the problem," he said.

And refereeing is all police can do. Kahley said the arguments usually end in motorists paying the $75 fine anyway.

While the state vehicle code does not list booting as an option for private entities, placing a restraint on a car doesn't rise to the level of a criminal offense, Kahley said.

"We're looking at what course of action the city can take to look out for both sides," he said. "The proper way of handling this is still to have the vehicle towed."

Nixon said the city council's police committee plans to discuss the issue of booting at its Sept. 25 meeting.

Legislation, he said, might be drafted along the same lines as the towing ordinance to ban predatory versions of the activity.

"I appreciate the frustration that a parking lot owner has when people park there that are not authorized to park there," Nixon said. "Even if you park somewhere for two minutes, it's still two minutes you shouldn't have been there."

Nixon said an ordinance would regulate booting companies in the city.

Mainly, he wants to make sure they aren't "lying in wait" or "trolling" lots looking for cars parked there illegitimately.

Alan Ching, manager of the White Rose Bar & Grill, said booting "deters people from coming downtown. I understand what they're trying to do, but we want downtown to thrive and we want people to have good experiences, bring other people and come back."

The restaurant gated its own lot about six months ago, he said.

Sometimes, when that lot is full, patrons use the Central Market garage at the corner of South Beaver and West Philadelphia streets.

And, sometimes, they forget to pay.

"If any of our customers have gotten booted," Ching said, "we give them a $75 gift card to the restaurant as an apology."

'I did have it coming'

One day last week, Andrew Miller noticed a few booted cars in Central Market's garage.

He didn't think anything of it.

The 20-year-old West Manchester Township resident parks in the garage for his internship at Idea Tree, a software applications firm on West Clarke Avenue.

That day, like many others, he forgot to bring his permit.

After arriving at work, Miller's sister called with bad news.

She had walked by the garage. His car had been booted.

"I was flipping out. I was in a little bit of shock with no warning," he said. "It was terrifying. I get super nervous."

After he paid $75 and calmed down, he reflected on the experience and the three guys in the PLS van who came to free his wheel.

"Every time I go back to my car and I see them, I smile and wave at them," he said. "They are nice guys and I did have it coming."

'An honest mistake'

An employee at Weinstein Realty Consultants popped into his office to see if he needed stay for a meeting.

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